Passage of Time
by Kelie
Summary: A device of great power tempts Michael and Max to play God with the lives of their loved ones.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Passage of Time  
Author: Kelie  
Rating: PG13/R (Violent scenes)  
Summery: A device of great power tempts Michael and Max to play God with the lives of their loved ones.

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"Do you know what this means?"

His eyes were unwavering. They sank into his mind, like weights too heavy to lift. His stare did not shift, it did not falter. He knew exactly what this meant.

"Maxwell, do you know what this means?" Michael asked again, this time setting a long silver device on the table in front of them.

The object was alien, that much was clear. It had the marks of his people engraved upon it, it was about five inches in diameter and only a foot long, it was hollowed out, save for one end, which came to a smoothed out edge. His fist gripped the sleek metal, his hand crushing it easily. But as soon as his grip let go, the metal returned to its natural position, once more long and slender.

Michael was growing impatient. "We could do anything, go anywhere." He ventured. "Are you even hearing me?"

This time, the second in command took a more violent approach. He reached across the table, and grabbed his king by the collar, pulling his body harshly toward him. His rage building as his knuckles turned white with pressure.

"We could stop it all from happening. Everything that Liz said would happen – we could stop it all."

Max turned his head away, dropping the metal device carelessly to the ground. It clanked against the floor and rolled to a stop beneath Michael's chair. Startled by his friend's lack of empathy, he released his grip and bent down to grab the device.

"Well, if you won't go, I will. I'm not going to let Isabel die for your stupidity – not again."

Finally, as Michael moved to leave Max spoke soft words. "She was the cause. She betrayed us, Michael. Isabel gave us to Kivar, again. Maria, Kyle, Jim…" He paused. "Liz… they're all dead because of her." He rose to his feet. "Why would I go back for her?"

Desperate Michael leapt forward, trying to stop his king from leaving. "No, Max please wait. You don't know that for sure. How could you trust the word of your enemy over your own sister?"

Max snatched the long device from Michael's hand and waved it in his face. "Time travel? You want to go back in time? Let me explain something Michael. The past… its gone, done, dead – just like everyone we know. You can't go back in time and expect to be able to change a damn thing. It's a fleeting hope, nothing to risk our lives over."

"Fine." Michael sighed. "Then what about your son?" He waited for a response he knew he was going to get.

The king turned his face quickly. "What about him?"

"You could save him too."

He scoffed. "I'm not the martyr I used to be. I don't have it in me to care anymore."

"What happened to you, man? You used to be a hero. Now you're just… broken."

Rolling his eyes, Max tossed the device on the chair he had sat on and opened the door to leave. "You want to loose your life for a cause not worth fighting, be my guest. Don't expect me to heal you this time."

Michael watched in disbelief as the door closed behind his king. Max was gone. He would never again see him, either. It would be for twelve months, before he'd learn of his alien kin's demise.

Twelve months later:

A new report began blaring over the radio "A young man was gunned down last night at the…" Michael slammed his alarm clock and rolled out of bed. Wiping his eyes, he trudged through his garbage-filled apartment to find something to eat in his fridge.

"Never anything to eat…"

He didn't really care. He hadn't cared about much in a long, long time. Everything he loved, everyone he cared about was gone. He was the only survivor of a long-lived conspiracy to hide and protect the aliens on Earth from the governments that would have them killed.

The past went like this:

At first everything was fine. It was Max, their leader and king, Max's sister Isabel, a princess and ice-queen to boot and Michael, a juvenile delinquent with too much power for his own good. For a time, things were easy. They stayed to together, they stayed quiet and they stayed safe.

Then Liz Parker happened.

God; He hated her. He hated what she did to Max, what she had done to their group. Max had loved her, truly Max had been a fool. No love on this Earth was worth the misery Liz caused their group. Because of that love, Max saved her life; he healed her and forced them into a spiral of events that eventually consumed them.

You see, Liz had this friend Maria who had this friend Alex. Maria was a wise-ass and a bit of a spaz. Michael liked her okay, he really liked her. In fact, he sort of loved her. But he knew better then to make her his reason for being. That was foolish thinking. Because Michael knew that one day he'd leave her, and just end up with a whole lot of hurt; but not Max, nope. Max couldn't do that – he had to have Liz.

Alex was this nerdy kid, who knew enough about computers to get by, and had aspiring dreams of both being a rock star and wooing Alien Princess Isabel into his bed. Neither was ever going to happen.

Then Tess entered.

For similar reasons, Michael hated Liz, he also hated Tess. She gummed up the works, and made Max a drooling idiot. At least for Tess, it wasn't entirely her fault. For, she had been his wife, his bride and his queen on another planet, in another life – long ago. Those dwindling memories popped up once and while and made everyone's lives… a bit more… chaotic.

After the death of their Alien Protector, Nasado – Tess went to live with Jim Valenti and his son Kyle. Jim was the sheriff of Roswell and Kyle was Liz's ex-boyfriend from the summer before Max healed her.

Max loved Tess. He loved her like a husband loves his wife. She was his companion in a way that Liz could never be. She was his equal. She was his advisor and savior. But, Max was a fool – truly. He couldn't let go of Liz, and his dreams of being human; something that he could never be. Tess got mad, she grew confused and jealous. She had been raised by their alien protector with the idea that Max was in love with her, and her alone. She had been taught from day one, minute one, second one that Max was her one and only, her truest of all allies.

So when Tess could take no more heartache, no more pain – she sought out her own savior. She wanted to go back home, more than anything in the world. Antar, their home world, was Tess' dream. It was a dream that not too many other aliens shared. Knowing full well she wouldn't get help from them, she took matters into her own hands, using her abilities and gifts to control and manipulate Alex into decoding their ancient alien book. This book held answers to everything. It was their history, their present and their future. It even told them how to operate a ship to travel home.

However, unlucky for Tess during this period of time, Max had run into a spot of trouble with Liz. They had a falling out of sorts. You see, Alex had died. Liz became obsessed with it, convinced that an Alien much be responsible. Her accusations ripped their group apart, and drove Max to wife's arms.

Tess still loved Max, so she accepted back to her warmly. Max, being the idiot he was got his wife pregnant. Their unborn child was unable to sustain itself on Earth. The atmosphere was suffocating it. In an attempt to learn more about the problem, Max linked himself with the baby and learned that Tess was carrying a boy. So, in a panic max began to try and decode their Alien book. However his knowledge of their former lives and language was limited, and thus his efforts were futile. Tess, having already decoded the book knew that the time had come for them to leave. She set up a translated copy of the book in an abandoned warehouse. Then she left clues for Michael to follow – so they would not know it was her that left the book in the abandoned building.

The clues Tess left however were also clues that led Liz to believe even more so that an Alien had killed her friend Alex. Preoccupied with her situation at home, with their unborn child dying and Max's emotional break down Tess let her guard down, and the control she held over the memories of her friends began to slip.

As the aliens prepared to leave the Earth and head back home to Antar. Tess' control crashed. Kyle began to remember some things about Alex that he had been mind-warped into forgetting.

Alex had come into their home, as Tess was sitting in her room. He was frantic, he was scared. He began to spew out text-book quotes from the Alien Book. "You are the Royal Four…. You were created from the DNA of you Alien ancestors and your human subjects." He cried that Tess had robbed him of his mind that he had nothing left, and he minus well be dead.

Around this time, Kyle came upon the scene. Seeing Alex was upset and that Tess looked quiet worried, he ventured to tell Alex everything was ok. Tess attempted mind-warping him one last time, to prevent him from not only hurting himself, but from hurting anyone else. Her final mind-warp was all it took to crack his fragile mind. Alex collapsed to the floor.

So Alex was dead.

At first Tess just cried. He had been one of her friends, a member of the only family she'd ever known. Kyle was bewildered. He immediately went to call his father and to let Max and others know. Panicked, and stricken without any other choice – Tess knew the others would never let her live, not after knowing she had killed a human this way, even if it had been a mistake. Max would never take her back, and the other Aliens, if they didn't kill her would banish her and she would never get home.

Taking Kyle's hand, Tess calmed him down, and as he sat she mind-warped him into forgetting the entire thing. It was as if it had never happened. With Kyle in a daze, Tess attempted dragging the corpse to the car, to toss it someplace. It was too heavy. So, once more she tricked Kyle – this time into thinking that Alex's body was in fact a piece of luggage. With the body gone, Tess used her other gifts to remote-drive the vehicle down a street and crash it into oncoming traffic.

Unfortunately, all of this came to a head just as Max, Isabel and Tess were about to board their ship and head home. Michael, having done some soul-searching came to the conclusion that he wanted to stay on Earth with Maria. With Kyle's chilling recount of how Alex died, Liz raced to catch Max before they left. And she did. After hearing of Tess' betrayal Max banished her to Antar, sending her to their home, alone, carrying his child to a world where his enemies hated the royal four.

Tess was gone.

Things, for a time, returned to their quasi-normal state. Liz lured Max back, and Isabel began to date a young lawyer that worked for her adoptive father. Michael was still with Maria and everything in Roswell seemed to be as right as rain.

A letter Max stumbled upon brought to the surface more trouble. He had been sifting through Tess' belongings when Liz found him. She wasn't too pleased. But Max couldn't let it go. He thought of Tess and his son often. He had to get to Antar and save his son.

Luckily, Tess had left a letter stating just how to do that. But it involved a bit of law-breaking. Max convinced Liz to hold an empty gun, while he would rob a gas station and instead of taking money, they would cut a hole into the basement, where the Aliens' original ship from 1947 was held. Max now had his way home. The law enforcement caught up with the duo and arrested them. Their plans went bust.

However, after a lengthy court session and some settling out of court, both teens managed to get out of the situation relatively unmarked. But now Max couldn't go to Antar. He wouldn't have to either.

While all of this was happening on Earth, far away on Antar Tess was dealing with issues far greater; Alien pregnancies only last three months. So, she gave birth and lived on Antar for some time before Kivar – the ruling faction leader that killed Max and the others in their former lives took notice of Tess.

Kivar rejected Zan, Tess' son named for Max's original Alien name. He wished both Max and Zan dead, and anything else that threatened his stolen seat on the throne. So Tess was forced to once again flee from her home, and return back to Earth in hopes that Max would be able to help her. But the welcome she found on Earth was far from a pleasant one.

The Air Force shot her ship down, and attempted taking her son from their ship. In an act of rage and instinct she killed two dozen men with her mind and hands, then fled the scene and ran to find the only person capable of helping her – Max. In the attack at their air force base, her leg was shot, and her side was injured. She bled profusely and limped for fourteen miles, all the way to Max's home in Roswell.

Upon seeing Max, Tess handed their son to him and collapsed to the ground. The only thing that had kept her able and moving until then had been sheer will to survive for their son. With that gone now, her injuries took hold and she fell into unconsciousness. When she woke, it was to a world of humans who hunted her like a dog, and aliens who wished her dead for her murder of their friend. She had no allies.

Max was furious with her. He motioned to kill her, so she did what she had to, to survive. She told him that if he killed her, he would kill their son – knowing all too well that Max would never take the risk of killing their son; no matter how much he hated her.

Yet, with the military on their backs, and closing in – Tess knew she couldn't run forever. She had come to Earth to save her son, and that's exactly what she would do. Her own life meant nothing to her, if her son couldn't survive. Max struggled to come up with an escape plan, after their attempts at crossing a road-block failed. In order for her son to live, Tess would have to give herself up.

With everyone asleep, Tess turned to the last person she's ever expect help from – Liz. She asked Liz to drive her to the Air Force base. It was there that Tess bore her soul, explaining that Max did indeed love her, and that it crushed her every time she kissed him to see Liz's face in his mind. Tess also explained that she had to do this, so that her son would live, and that she would know she did something good with her life. With that said, she entered into the air force base where gun fire and shouting could be heard, only moments before an explosion incinerated the base.

Now Tess was dead.

Their son, being of both human and alien DNA was without his father and mother's alien powers, and thus a regular human, at least on the outside. At the genetic level he was of course, still a second generation hybrid. Max knew that he was marked by the government and that he would spend the rest of his days running from the military. So, for his son's well-being he gave Zan up for adoption.

Zan was gone.

At their high school graduation that very government that was hunting them, targeted them for termination. They escaped, and fled – now they were fugitives running from the law. As part of their new identities, Max married Liz. Isabel, who had married her young lawyer friend, Jesse – told him to go, she didn't want to see him killed because of her. Both Liz and Kyle were changing into Hybrids, a side effect of Max's healing abilities. Michael and Maria were together, but Maria was growing more and more restless. She missed her home; she missed her family and her school. God forbid, she missed Roswell.

For the better part of two years they continued to flee. They hid in just about every state, until one day – Max had a vision. It was of Tess, and his son. They were together somewhere, and waiting for Max to join them. Max knew it was a dream, and dismissed it as such. But he could shake the feeling like he was missing something. That something was his family, his wife and his son. However, now Max had a new wife, and a new life with Liz and he found it difficult to tell the others of his new found emotions.

An event that would shake them to the core, would force those scary emotions to the surface. One night, as they all slept in their motel rooms an Earthquake shook the ground, and stirred them awake. Max, Isabel and Michael ran outside to find a huge alien ship hovering above them. It was the skins, their mortal enemies and the ones who followed Kivar. Kivar had come back to take Isabel, and to kill the others. He wanted all chances of his stolen throne being taken back eradicated.

They fought. Michael blasted them first, ducking for cover as Alien Troops filed from the ship and began to open fire on them. Max opened his barrier, protecting his kin. They were holding their own, even against all of their foes. They may have even escaped, if Isabel had not been there.

Isabel betrayed them again. Upon seeing Kivar in his true form, with nothing more than an atmosphere suit to protect his giant black eyes, she walked from Max's protecting barrier and left the group for good. She would never again be called Isabel – instead she would be called Vilondra by all those who knew her.

Vilondra was evil. She was a sadistic, cruel and uncaring leader – she was Isabel's past, the former self she had been. Vilondra desired only two things, her brother's throne and leadership of her home world, Antar – and Kivar, her lover and conspirer against Max. In the moment it took Isabel to join forces with Kivar, Kyle's life was ended. Isabel's first act as Vilondra was to murder him right out. She grabbed her lover's energy gun and blasted a hole through Kyle's chest.

Kyle was dead.

Seeing the awesome power of their enemies, and now that they were down two allies, not just one – Max retreated with his remaining allies and fled to Canada, where the lust mountains and forests would provide them some cover, at least for a while.

Their cover would not last for long. Vilondra knew Max better then he knew himself. And in her reawakened state she held far more power then they could even imagine. She could walk through their dreams, and read their minds, even while they were awake. She found them, quickly, and they regretted all actions they took to stop her, for it did nothing, and only served to make her fury worse.

Her fury was all consuming.

Kivar trailed along, Vilondra took the lead. They marched into the woods and dragged their prey out by their hair. Maria was the next to die. Vilondra tossed her over a cliff and watched as her ragged doll-like body smeared itself along the rock's side. After that, her craving for their deaths only increased.

Maria was dead.

She stabbed Liz, but the wry little human-turned-alien escaped, dragging her dying body along the woods until Max found her. But Vilondra would not give them a moment's peace. She ripped Max from his new wife's arms and made him watch as she died slowly from blood loss.

Liz was dead.

The only ones left now where her brother Max and her would-be husband Michael. Against her wishes they fled, escaping into the woods, and out of sight. Vilondra was furious they ran from her, and so she took out her anger on the Earth. She set forest fires, and blew building up. Despite all of this, she still could not find her brother and Michael. So, she went after the last remaining heir to the throne she so badly craved. Zan. He had been adopted. He was living somewhere in New York. Vilondra and Kivar wreaked havoc there, until finally, on day they found him. Such a sweet little baby, living his with normal human parents. Oblivious to the end he would soon acquire. As they slept, she had Kivar's men incinerate their home. When they were done, not a thing remained.

Zan was dead.

Max woke with a fright. He knew what had happened. Such rage he felt. He used all the power in him to find his sister and kill her. And so, that is what he did. He hunted her, like a rabid dog. He found her one night, in an alien dwelling in the desert. She was sleeping alongside Kivar. He stuck a fork in her throat and watched as the life drained from her body. When she was dead, he placed his hand on Kivar's sleeping body and removed the seal of his world. Without that seal, he would be unable to rule. Max knew this. Then he fled, he ran into hiding, knowing that Kivar would do anything he could to get back the throne of Antar.

Isabel was dead.

The present when like this:

Now Max was gone. His spirit dwindled to nothing. He had nothing left to live for. No wife, no son, no family. The family he had was dead. Isabel his sister has betrayed them, again. Michael understood, but this device could change their lives, it could change everything. He could go back, before it all began and make things right. He could fix things. Was Max right? Was the past dead? Was there nothing even he could do to fix things? No, Michael didn't want to believe that – he refused.

Rising to his feet, he scooped the long device up from the seat and held it in his hands. He gripped it, and pressed his thumb against the symbols in a precise order. After a moment the device began to glow. In a flash of brilliant white light, Michael was gone. He'd vanished into thin air, gone in a puff of unmarked time.

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Passage of Time  
Author: Kelie  
Rating: PG13/R (Violent scenes)  
Summery: A device of great power tempts Michael and Max to play God with the lives of their loved ones.

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A thunderous clap echoed through the air. The night's sky lit up with lighting. There was no rain. There was not even a cloud in the sky. Despite that, there was still a storm. As lightening bolts sparked, some kind of hole appeared. It was a rip in the fabric of time itself. Michael fell from the hole and landed on his stomach, naked. He got up groggily. Looking from side to side he realized quickly that he was in Roswell, the main road between the Crashdown Café and the UFO center where Max had worked once.

He staggered toward the café and banged on the door. After a moment, Liz came running down the stairs. To her horror she saw Michael, ragged, beaten looking with scars that looked old, but she didn't remember him having.

Michael watched as Liz came running down the stars and opened the door. It was funny to see her so young again. She was 16, maybe. He fell through the doorway as she opened it, and landed on the ground.

"Do you want me to call the cops? Are you ok?" She asked.

Michael glanced at her. "The cops? No, are you kidding?"

The girl seemed confused. Michael knelt on the ground as Liz slung a blanket over his naked body. She blushed upon seeing him like this and then turned the coffee pot on, to make him something warm to drink.

"Here you go." She handed him the mug, and sat down beside him as he drank from it.

"Can I have some tobasco sause?" He asked.

Liz scrunched her nose. "Um, if you want…" She handed him a bottle and sat back down.

Michael nodded. "Thanks a lot." He took a large swig.

"So what happened to you?" She asked.

Michael shivered a bit. "I can't talk about that right now. Where's Max?" He asked.

There was silence. Liz stared at him bewildered at his question. She shrugged sheepishly and Michael thought for a moment that she was hiding something.

"Max who? Max Evan?" She asked quietly, careful not to wake her parents.

Michael jumped out of his seat, clutching his blanket. "You… he… I mean you don't know him?"

"Only by reputation. He's quiet and doesn't like many people." Liz said.

Michael laughed. "That sounds like Max alright. Liz, thanks for your help tonight, but I'd appreciate it, if you didn't say anything to anyone about this, ok?" He stood up.

"Yea, sure." Liz nodded.

He wrapped himself tightly with the blanket. "You mind if I borrow this blanket for a bit?"

"No, go ahead." She stood up as well.

She led him to the door and locked it after he had left. He felt her eyes watching him the whole way, as he walked slowly down the street. He was grinning from ear to ear. This was amazing! He was in Roswell, before Liz gets shot, before everything happened! If he could stop Max from healing Liz, he could stop everyone's deaths… except Liz. Michael was convinced that she was meant to die, and that the havoc caused after her life was saved was a result of her destiny being tampered with.

Now he could fix it.

He sprinted toward the Evan's home, knowing full well that Isabel and Max would be asleep, but always willing to help him out. He would have to work quickly, until he knew exactly how much time he had before the shooting at the café would take place. He had to make sure that Max was not interested in Liz before then; otherwise he may heal her again.

Tap, tap… tap. Isabel sat up from her bed quietly and moved cautiously to the window. She slid it open to find Michael below her. At first she motioned him in; it wasn't until a moment later that she realized something seemed different about him. She went down the stairs to greet him, eyeing the knives in the kitchen. It was Michael, she was sure of it. He came in the doorway, shivering, cold and naked with only a blanket to cover him. She sat down with him, confused and untrusting.

"I swear, Isabel it's me." Michael insisted.

Isabel sighed, standing up she backed away a bit. "You're older, scruffier. I don't know…" She hesitated.

"I'm from the future. Years from now. Please, you have to listen to me; everyone's lives depend on it." He begged her.

She sat back down, her hands shaking. "How do I know you're telling me the truth?" She asked.

"Fair enough. What's the date?" He asked casually.

After a moment of thought, she answered. "September 25th."

"Ok…" Michael closed his eyes, remembering. "Oh God…" His eyes shot open, fear struck his face.

Isabel stiffened. "What is it?"

"A week, a week is all we have, before…" He paused. "Isabel, Isabel listen to me. When she gets shot, you can't let her live. Understand? When she's dying, and Max goes to save her, you must let her die. No matter the cost. Do you understand?"

She shook her head. "No, no, stop. Slow down. Who gets shot, where?"

Mr. and Mrs. Evans were coming down the stairs, it was morning and they were getting ready for work. Michael jumped from his seat and sped toward the door. Isabel followed him, nipping at his heels.

"Stop, wait. Who gets shot, where?" Isabel pleaded.

Michael turned for a second. "The Crashdown café, afternoon shift, one week." In a panic, he threw the door open and ran into the dark or early morn.

"Who are you talking to down here?" Mrs. Evans asked sleepily.

Isabel closed her eyes a moment, with her back turned to them. She hated lying to them. "No one, I was just talking to myself." She sighed.

Later in school.

"So, what you're saying is that there is another one of me running around?" Michael ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't like this, Maxwell."

Max nodded. "Me either. Maybe it was just a dream?" He wondered.

Isabel gave them both a scorned glance. "It was no dream, it was real. He said he have one week before… before someone gets shot at the Crashdown."

Nodding again, Max closed his locker and moved down the school's hall with his sister and best friend. "I suggest we act like nothing is wrong, otherwise we might draw attention to ourselves."

The other two nodded in a agreement, and they went their separate ways to class.

Meanwhile, Future Michael was dressed now, cleaned up and on the internet at a coffee shop. He was filing through reference numbers for the cases in which people were killed with nothing more then a hand print. He was looking for Nasado and Tess. He hoped that if he could find them, get the granolith together then maybe they would have a chance at beating Kivar and freeing his people – something they were never able to accomplish in his time.

In school, Max shifted uncomfortable in his seat. All the alien-related talk had made him nervous, which in turn caused him to drink more water, which had now caused a really full bladder. He squirmed a moment longer before giving up and raising his hand.

"Yes Mr. Evans?" The teacher asked.

Max cleared his throat. "May I go to the restroom?" He asked.

"Take the pass. You have five minutes before the test." She reminded.

He nodded his thanks and grabbed the pass. He rushed to the bathroom. After relieving himself, he moved to the sink. When he looked up into the mirror, he saw a girl! It was that girl, Maria. She always hung around that girl Liz, he thought. He sort of had a crush on Liz, although he'd never so much as talked to her. Startled by her presence, he gasped aloud.

"Am I… did I go in the wrong bathroom?" Max suddenly felt very lost.

Maria laughed. "No, the girl was filled up. I really had to go, and no one was in here." She smiled, washing her hands.

Max grinned, watching her wash her hands. He blushed a little, the attention of a girl was uncommon for him.

"So, you like my friend, Liz – don't you?" She was blunt.

Max squirmed again, but this time it wasn't cause he had to pee. "Uh, I… um, I don't…" He stammered.

"Its ok, she thinks you cute." Maria grinned.

Max nodded with a cute little smile. "I think you're cute too." His eyes widened. "I mean, I think she's cute, too." He began to curse himself under his breath.

Maria was taken back. "You like me?"

He backed away, frightened. "No, I… I have to go." He ran from the bathroom and went back to class.

In the middle of a biker bar, Future Michael burst through the doors. He walked directly to the bar, picked up a guys bottle, and quickly slammed it over his head. People screamed, and a few tried to fight him. He easily got away, but not before grabbing the man's keys to his motorcycle.

He hoped on the bike, running his hand over the license plate, and speeding off into the desert. He pulled a paper out of his pocket; it was directions to a place in New Mexico, the last known Address of Ed Harding, the alias Michael knew Nasado by.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Passage of Time  
Author: Kelie  
Rating: PG13/R (Violent scenes)  
Summery: A device of great power tempts Michael and Max to play God with the lives of their loved ones.

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"Is-Isabel, hey, I was wondering if you could… um…" Alex Whitman began to speed-walk to keep up with the infamous ice queen.

Isabel ignored the annoying skinny human.

"Can you, please stop walking for a second?"

With a loud sigh, she slammed to stop on her heels and spun around to face the small boy. "What, do you want?" She asked harshly.

The boy was taken back slightly, she was gorgeous and yet so mean. "Just wondering if you'd like to place your name on this petition…" He showed her the paper.

"What's it for?" Isabel asked quickly.

Alex gulped a little. "To uh, fund an investigation into how the fountain heads on our water fountains melted to the walls." He said quietly.

"No thanks." She walked away.

Quickly she turned the corner and glanced at the water fountain, giggling. She knew why that had happened; she had done it a few days ago, while bored. As she moved away Max caught her by the arm. He pulled her into the corner by his locker and talked to her in a hushed tone.

"What did you do that for? They're looking into how it happened!" He snapped.

Isabel rolled her eyes. "Well, they're not going to think an alien did it." She sighed.

"It doesn't matter. We can't take chances like this, especially not right now." He looked around, suspiciously.

She began to walk away. "You know Max, nothing has happened yet, and if we do what the other Michael said, nothing ever will. So, just relax."

He watched her leave, with astonished eyes.

The road was dusty, and future Michael found it hard to see. He pulled off the road a moment, to clean his helmet and wipe his eyes of the dirt. It was then that he saw the town he had been searching for. It was just down the road. He hopped on his stolen bike and took off toward the nearest building.

He unfolded the piece of paper and walked into the building closest to him, it was a post office. The clerk saw him, and new he was either lost, or looking to find someone.

"What can I do for you?" The clerk asked kindly.

Michael looked up in a daze. "I'm looking for my uncle and his daughter. The name's Harding… this is the last known address I have for them. Do you know where it is, and if they still live there?" He slid the paper across the counter and waited as the clerk took a look.

"Oh yes sir, your uncle and his daughter Tess are very well known 'round these parts. He's quite the business man! He owns the shop just a few buildings down… sort of a nik-nak type of place called 'Ratna', good for tourists. He sells really good fresh fruit too." The postman handed the paper back.

Michael nodded. "Thanks a ton, man."

Out in the sun once more, he searched with his eyes down the street. To his delight, he saw the store 'Ratna'… otherwise known as 'Antar' spelled backwards. Michael chuckled to himself and walked into the store.

The door opened, and a small bell rang to let them know a customer had arrived. He looked around. There was a lot of little things lying about, stuff that no one had touched in years probably. He wondered how long the shop had been there. Then he wondered how long 'Ed' and Tess had been living here. She said she had moved a lot, but perhaps not as much as she told them. From the looks of this place, she'd lived here for a while. He moved between aisles and found the counter, hidden at the back of the shop. Tess was standing behind it, leaning her head on her hands and flipping through a quantum physics book, looking amazingly bored. She glanced up and saw Michael.

"Can I help you find something?" She asked.

Michael shrugged. "I'm just browsing…" He moved to her, and looked at the book. "Some light reading?" He laughed. He glanced at the page and saw the sub title 'Time Travel, space travel and all things dimensional'.

"Just reviewing for… uh… school." She closed the book.

He grinned. "Time and Space travel, eh? You know about that stuff?" He leaned in to talk to her.

She shuffled uncomfortably. "Just what I've read, can't say I've had a first hand experience or anything." She laughed forcibly.

"Right." He paused. "I have."

Her eyes widened. "What did you say?"

"I've traveled through time." He explained.

She laughed. "Of course you have…"

"No, really. You're Tess Harding, Nasado… I mean 'Ed' -" Tess covered his mouth with her hand and ran around the front of the counter to stop him from continuing.

She took a breath, ran to the door and placed a 'closed for lunch' sign. "Whatever you heard in those chat-rooms was a lie, ok… I was just fooling around, now, you have to go." She began to push Michael out of the store.

"Wait, Tess… please. I'm not joking. My name is Michael, but it used to be Rath, in my past life. Please listen to me!" He begged, trying to keep from yelling.

She stopped suddenly, as if her blood had run cold. "Rath… but that means that, Vilondra and… Zan?" She took his hand, and searched his eyes. "Are they alive?"

"They are just fine, for now. But we need to talk, alone." He insisted.

Nodding, she led him to their home above the store. It was small, one bedroom, one bath and a tiny fridge and sink with a small table to call a kitchen. She sat at the table and waited, nervous that Michael was still silent.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

He took a breath. "It's just that, what I'm about to tell you… you can't tell anyone."

"Not even Nasado?" She wondered.

Nodding no, he continued. "Not even him."

"Alright, tell me." She said.

"First of all, Nasado is a liar. He set up a deal years ago, to send us all back to Kivar, in return for safe haven on Antar. Second, you have to get out of here, today, with me, and go back to Roswell."

Tess' eyes widened. "Roswell? What for?"

"We all live there, and something really bad is about to happen to us all if you are not there to keep Max… that's Zan from making the biggest mistake of his life."

She sat back, taking this in. "You guys still live at the crash site's town… weirdos."

"After we gather them together, we have to get this crystal, it powers a machine called the -"

Tess butted in. "Granolith. Yea, I know. Nasado and I have it." She stood up and started rummaging through some drawers while Michael continued.

"That's great. Once I send all of you guys back to Antar, I should stop existing, since everything that caused me to be who I am would have changed entirely."

Turning around, Tess handed Michael the long crystal that started the Granolith. "Once you activate it you only have 24 hours before it does… whatever it does." She sat back down.

"I know. In my time line we used it, and you ended up jettisoning off to our home planet alone with your unborn son."

Her face turned all sorts of red colors. "How did that happen?"

"Max sent you home. When it happened he told us it was because you had killed our friend Alex, but later, after a lot had happened, he confided in me that it was to keep you safe, to keep you from getting killed by us because of Alex's death."

She hung her head. "I killed your friend?"

"It was an accident, and besides, you did it in an attempt to get you and your dying child home where he could thrive. But that mistake I was telling you about, the one you have to stop Max from committing… it has a name, her name is Liz Parker."

Future Michael helped Tess onto the back of his bike, before slamming the gas and speeding down the road. She clung to his back, the wind in her face, whipping her hair around. All she could think about what the others. What they would look like, sound like, act like. She couldn't wait to meet them. If they were half as cool as this version of Michael, she knew they'd get along great.

In Roswell, the aliens were sitting at home, discussing the predictions of the Future Michael's. Max was pacing, Isabel was listening to CD's, and Michael was just annoyed that he had to be included in this mess to begin with.

"I don't see the big deal. So we let some human die. It's not like we know them. Who cares?" Michael protested.

Isabel sat up. "Well, obviously you do… well not you, you from the future you does, so maybe it's someone you cared about."

"Someone I cared about?" He scoffed. "That's ridiculous, I don't even hang out with any humans."

Max nodded. "None of us do, which is why this is so confusing." He sat down. "I just don't -" The phone rang.

Isabel got up and answered it. The moment she did, her eyes narrowed on Max, her voice became stern and she grew some what angry looking.

"Yea, he's here. Can I ask whose calling?" She said. There was a pause as she listened to whoever it was speak. "I see, here he is…" She handed the phone to Max. "It's for you, Maria Deluca?" She walked past him, brushing against his shoulder. "No humans, huh?"

Slightly excited, but trying not to show it, he picked up the phone. "Hello?" He paused. "No, that's cool." There was another pause. "Great, see you then." He smiled and hung up the phone.

The others perked their ears. Michael grew annoyed. "This is retarded, I'm leaving." He picked up his coat and slammed the door behind him.

Isabel stood up next. "If only I could pick up and leave that easily. I'll see you in the morning, I'm going to bed." She left the room.

They pulled into a motel, and hopped off Future Michael's bike. Tess stretched her legs a moment, and walked along side Michael as they went toward his room. He opened the door, and to her horror she found a mess beyond her wildest dreams. He'd obviously been here at least a few days. There was a 'do not disturb' sign on the door, so no maids had come by to clean it. The bed was tossed; there was garbage and food on the table. Tess scrunched her nose up. The room was gross. She sat down cautiously on the bed, careful not to touch too much.

"You live here?" She asked.

He shrugged. "If that's what you call it. I don't exactly do much living."

"I see. Well… it's… nice." She offered.

Laughing, he threw her a candy bar. "I don't have much in the way of food, so you might want to eat that. Roswell is only about a mile down the road, so we can go there anytime you're ready."

She opened her candy. "I'm ready whenever you are." She explained while chewing.

He nodded. "Ok, well here is my plan. We kidnap Liz, and hold her here, until the shooting that would have her killed happens. If my dates are right, that's tomorrow in the afternoon shift. Without her there, Max won't heal her, and then at least they will be safe until I can figure out how to get you guys to Antar."

Tess seemed worried. "Kidnap a human? How?" She asked.

Michael picked up a 9mm handgun he was stashing under his pillow. "With this, and this…" She held out his hand and blasted the TV, it blew up and sparks flew from it.

Jumping back a little, Tess was surprised. "Jeez, ok… then I guess we should get started."

As the night progressed, Tess and Future Michael snuck into Liz's room by climbing up her fire-escape. Tess crept into her room and looked at her sleeping. This was the girl that Max supposedly left her for? She wasn't exactly what she expected. Although pretty, she wasn't worthy of a King. She snorted a giggle at the though, and Liz woke with a start.

Almost as if on cue, Michael rushed the girl, covered her mouth and hit her over the head with his gun. She hadn't even had time to make a noise. He lifted her over his shoulder and climbed down the latter, Tess following quickly behind him.

"You have to steal that car." He told her.

Tess' eyes widened. "Steal it? Why?"

"We need to tie her up and put her in the trunk. Don't worry about the plates, I can change them." He explained quietly.

Doing as she was told, she used her powers to unlock the car and start the engine. When Michael was done putting Liz in the trunk, He slid in the passenger side, and they took off toward the motel.

It had been one week. Max was waiting in the Crashdown Café for something to happen. He had ordered a coke and was mixing in some Tabasco sauce for flavor. His attention however, was elsewhere, to one of the waitresses. Maria saw him and went to his table.

"What can I get you?" She asked with a cute smile.

Max grinned. "Nothing right now. What are you still doing here? I thought you had the morning shift today?"

"I did, but Liz never showed up, so I got stuck with her hours." She moaned.

He shook his head. "That sucks. You have a break coming up at all?"

"I could take a quick five minute break, now… I guess." She took off her alien attenna and pulled a seat up to his table.

Meanwhile on the other side of the café two men began to argue. One pulled out a gun and a struggle started. Maria's back was to the men, and Max was consumed in his conversation with her. Before he knew it, there was a loud bang, and suddenly he was splattered with blood. Maria slumped over at once, hitting her face on the table. She slid off her seat and crumpled to the ground. Max flew to her aid, ripping open her shirt, he found a huge wound. He turned her over to find that the bullet had gone in her back and come out the front. He placed his hand over it to stop it from bleeding. The pressure didn't do much, blood squeezed out between his fingers.

A moment later, Isabel and Michael came running in to find Max bent over Maria, kneeling in a puddle of her blood. The girl was shaking, and Max looked frazzled. Isabel tugged at him.

"No Max, let her go." She said.

Max pulled away from his sister, clutching Maria to him. "No, you don't understand."

"Maxwell, this isn't the plan." Michael reminded him.


End file.
